Milford Mill football player charged in fatal shooting

High school senior, 18, arrested in killing of Randallstown youth

A Milford Mill Academy football player was arrested yesterday and accused of fatally shooting an 18-year-old Randallstown youth standing in a crowd of young people Saturday morning, then speeding off in a car not knowing how many people might have been hit, Baltimore County police said.

Instead of practicing with his team yesterday afternoon, Jerrard M. Bazemore, 18, a senior and starting running back on the varsity football team, was arraigned on a first-degree murder charge. He is accused of killing Charles Howard Sharp III, a recent Lansdowne High School graduate who had gathered with friends outside a home in Randallstown.

Police said the two teen-agers had been involved in a continuing dispute, though they did not say what it was about.

Bazemore, who was in his third year of playing football for the school, was arrested without incident at his home in the 3500 block of Wild Cherry Road in Milford Mill yesterday morning, police said. He was being held without bail last night. A bail review hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. today.

Sharp, of the 8800 block of Sigrid Road, was pronounced dead at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore about 9 p.m. Saturday - 20 hours after the 1 a.m. shooting. He had been shot in the head, according to police.

Investigators said they were able to identify Bazemore - also known as "Tic" - based on descriptions from witnesses to the shooting and people who know him. According to charging documents, as Bazemore drove away from the shooting scene, he said to a friend, "I wonder if I hit any of them?"

Bazemore and his father declined to comment on the charges yesterday.

Sharp's parents said Charles, the eldest of three sons, planned to take a test next week to join the Air Force and hoped to become a computer engineer. He had been in the ROTC program in high school, said his mother, Nefertiri Sharp. He also played basketball at Lansdowne High.

"My son was special, very quiet," she said. "He kept to himself."

His father, Charles Sharp Jr., said his son had been visiting a friend Friday night in the 8600 block of Lucerne Road in Randallstown, where he was shot. He said he didn't know of any enemies his son had.

"We loved him so much. I couldn't have asked for a better son," said Nefertiri Sharp, who said Charles was especially close to his brothers, Carlos and Chaz.

Milford Mill Principal Norman S. Smith Jr. said he learned of the charges against Bazemore on Sunday afternoon when police detectives called him at home. "I don't know the whole story," Smith said. "I'm still trying to figure out what happened myself."

Smith said tha no school-wide announcements had been made about Bazemore's arrest and that he didn't hear many students at the 1,600-student high school talking about it.

"There's not a whole lot of buzz going through the school today," Smith said. "I don't know if the kids know."

Bazemore's brother, David, had also played for the high school football team. They are related to former Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders.

A funeral for Sharp is planned for noon Saturday at St. Bernardine Roman Catholic Church at 3812 Edmondson Ave. in Baltimore